Tiki Barber says failures off the field after his retirement from football in 2006 led to a year-long bout with depression. The 36-year-old Barber, the New York Giants' career leading rusher, acknowledged in an HBO report to be aired Tuesday that he now needs football more than it needs him.

Good thing New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees have had plenty of practice this injury-marred season conjuring offensive production minus a consistent, inside running game. That's because the reigning Super Bowl champions face an all-too familiar, tailback-by-patchwork committee from here on out.

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau marveled at how Tom Brady's passes sliced through a Soldier Field blizzard as if he were facing the Chicago Bears on a sun-splashed September day. That 36-7 rout Sunday epitomized Brady and coach Bill Belichick's 11-2 New England Patriots at their winterized best with Brady throwing for a season-high 369 yards with two touchdowns despite 30-50 mph wind gusts.

The New Orleans Saints are 9-3, one game behind the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South, and yet the reigning Super Bowl champions have a forgotten feel. But don't forget: They meet the Falcons on Dec. 27 in a crucial showdown at the Georgia Dome that could decide not only the NFC South title, but also the NFC's top seed.

Maurice Jones-Drew joked in training camp that the Jacksonville Jaguars' only appearances on network highlights were as extras in somebody else's clips. Look who's laughing now. Jones-Drew has provided his own highlight reel with five consecutive 100-yard rushing efforts to carry the 7-5 Jaguars to the top of the AFC South.

Michael Vick has always made it look easy. Whether he is rifling a ball more than 60 yards with a seeming flick of the wrist which is how he opened the Philadelphia Eagles' 59-28 dismantling of the Washington Redskins on Nov. 15, connecting with DeSean Jackson for an 88-yard touchdown or pirouetting away from a wall of pass rushers before weaving through linebackers and defensive backs, Vick has displayed a singular talent and grace in a league known for its luminary athletes.

Michael Vick's comeback with the Philadelphia Eagles has not only made him an NFL MVP candidate. He's become a TV draw as he leads the Eagles into an NFC East showdown with Eli Manning's New York Giants on NBC's Sunday Night Football (8:20 p.m. ET).

What in the name of Vince Lombardi is going on around here? Preseason Super Bowl favorites such as the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers are a combined 6-16. There's a 1-6 mess in Texas, where Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' dream of overseeing the first team to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium appeared to shatter along with quarterback Tony Romo's collarbone in a loss to the NFC East-leading New York Giants on Oct. 25.